Daily Times

French first lady Brigitte Macron turns 70 on Thursday, but don’t expect her to talk about it. “Wait for April 13, 2023 when I’m going to be 70,” she told women’s lifestyle magazine S in January with barely disguised dread about the coming flood of news articles. “You’re going to hear about it, I’m sure.

“I won’t read a thing that day.” Brigitte, who has three children from a previous marriage, has spent decades being reminded of the 25-year age gap between her and her husband, whom she met when he was a pupil and she was a teacher at a private school in northeast France. Their marriage was a sensation when Emmanuel Macron emerged in the public eye — first as a minister, then as a presidential candidate in 2016 — with many questioning whether such an unusual couple could be authentic. Though their affectionate and close relationship has since won over sceptics, public interest in the norm-bending first couple — and references to Brigitte’s age — never let up.

“I’ve never promoted our couple: it exists but you can’t explain it,” she continued in her interview with S. “Obviously it’s easier to be in the same age range,” she added. Her office declined to say what she had planned for her landmark birthday when contacted by AFP. The first lady returned on Wednesday evening from a two-day state visit to the Netherlands with her husband that saw her attend a state banquet hosted by the Dutch king and tour Anne Frank’s house with the queen.

She once spoke about the risk of appearing like a decorative “vase of flowers” during the staged photo ops and ceremonial duties of such occasions.